The Place Approach
The East Dunbartonshire Community Planning Partnership is committed to reducing inequality and to targeting resources where they are needed the most. As a result the ‘place approach’ is being used to work within those areas which experience the most inequality. This is a particular way of working with communities which moves away from providing services to alleviate local issues with tailored solutions, making local people central to the process.
Using local and national data, the three areas which have been identified as ‘place areas’ are Hillhead, Lennoxtown, and Auchinairn. Led by East Dunbartonshire Council, the Community Planning Partnership has begun the process of working with local communities to improve provision and give community led change in these areas.
On this page you will find information on The Place Approach Area's:
Auchinairn
To determine the community priorities for Auchinairn, a workshop was held in February 2015 which was followed by a community consultation event exploring the proposals put forward.
The priorities identified were:
- Champions group - improving communication between community, service providers and community groups
- Community Facility
- Community Safety – including green spaces
- Employability
Auchinairn is located between Bishopbriggs town centre and the Springburn and Balornock areas of Glasgow.
In 2015 the Community Planning and Partnerships team at East Dunbartonshire Council developed a series of workshops delivered in Auchinairn to engage with people from the local community. Throughout 2015 these workshops captured local people’s vision of a new community facility and explored the types of provision the community were looking for. Further engagement continued throughout 2016/2017 to support local voluntary groups and encourage local residents to get involved in the planning and design of a new community facility that would become Auchinairn Community and Early Years Centre.
In spring 2018 many of the voluntary groups and organisations moved from the old Community Centre on Auchinairn Road to the new modern facility in Beech Road. The facilities available at the Community Centre include a large hall that can spilt into two smaller spaces, three community meeting rooms, a café area, a community garden and a nursery as well as an outdoor play area with seating close by.
As the groups settled in to their new surroundings community development engagement and consultation work continued throughout 2018 to develop the community-led themes that would form the Auchinairn Place Plan.
View the Auchinairn Place Plan 2019-24
Hillhead
Hillhead was the first area to be targeted using a place approach. By working with services and communities the following three priority areas were identified in Hillhead:
Working with families
We try to improve things for families by: improving confidence in parenting; reducing health inequalities; improving relationships in families; increasing readiness for learning in children; and enhancing social belonging and employability. We are working towards this through our schools and our community centre by offering a number of courses and activities which bring people together to work as families either together or separately and by looking for parental volunteers to work with their friends and neighbours to engage them in the opportunities available. Have a look at our timetable of events in the community centre to see what is on offer for children and families, including the Little Explorers Nurture Day which is every Thursday in the Community Centre for families of pre-school children.
Community Safety
Partners work together to improve safety and people’s feelings of safety in Hillhead under the following headings: creating a safer and better environment, reducing levels of drug and alcohol misuse, and increasing levels of positive interaction between the police and other safety focussed agencies. This is reflected in the work of the Community Safety Partnership. A number of environmental improvements have been put in place as well as increased patrols of the community wardens.
Community Development
In order to put the community at the heart of developments, it is essential to support groups and individuals to become involved in their local community. Partners are working towards increasing community involvement in local decision making, assisting community groups to access resources, increasing volunteering levels, increasing levels of community led provision, and assisting groups to become more self-sufficient.
Hillhead Community Centre
The Hillhead Community Centre is a hive of local activity for all ages. Check out the timetable for what is on. As well as classes and activities, the Hillhead Community Forum are always looking for local people to volunteer and help them to plan open days and other events and activities within Hillhead, they meet on the 2nd Tuesday of every month and all local people are welcome. To apply for a let for your club, group or organisation, use the online letting system.
View the Hillhead and Harestanes Place Plan 2018-23
Lennoxtown
Lennoxtown is the largest village in the Parish of Campsie. It was originally called Newtown-of-Campsie. It became so closely associated with Lennox Corn Mill and Lennox Mill Calico Print Works, that it eventually became known as Lennox Town. Locals often refer to Lennoxtown as 'Campsie’ perhaps because it was the largest settlement in the Parish.
Work in Lennoxtown began in 2014 with a Charrette workshop and some community research. The priorities were identified as:
Safety
A priority for Lennoxtown in relation their safety is to reduce levels of anti-social behaviour. To achieve this a number of related areas were also identified, including improving youth activities for those 12+, and improving the physical environment of the main street. There was also felt that a number of unsafe driving practices existed within the village and that parking on the main street presented a safety issue. Another priority was to improve support to those with addiction issues.
Developing the Third Sector
Lennoxtown has a number of voluntary groups working towards improvements for the village in a variety of ways, including the Campsie Memorial Hall Trust. To support the third sector within the village, community planning partners are working towards increasing the connectedness of voluntary groups and increasing the groups’ connectedness with service providers. In these ways any duplication of efforts can be reduced and joint working can be encouraged. There is also a push towards increasing volunteering levels.
Children, families and young people
This will include working with Early Years facilities using family learning approaches to engage and work with families in Lennoxtown.
There has been a lot of activity in Lennoxtown over the recent years to identify local issues with a view to creating a community plan for moving forward.
A short term working group was established involving local residents to address local issues and priorities within the village. Local residents have led the development of the plan in partnership with the Council and other community planning partners. In the summer of 2018, several open consultations were held to gather feedback from the local community on the draft plan the working group produced. The 'Lennoxtown Place Plan 2018-2023' describes a range of themes, priority areas and comprehensive range of actions to move the village towards the vision which has been set by the local community who are committed to working together with local services to improve the village.
View the Lennoxtown Place Plan 2018-23
Lennoxtown Charrette
People who live, work and visit places in Lennoxtown village centre met a design team in the spring of 2016 to help shape solutions to address local issues and priorities.
The process - called a Charrette - was part of East Dunbartonshire Council’s ongoing support for the village and ran from 11 to 14 March in Campsie Memorial Hall.
The team running the Charrette talked with the community, stakeholders and partner agencies to identify potential actions to help protect and revitalise the area (marked on the map).
The Memorial Hall was converted into an open-to-all 'design studio' over the four days - with a team of designers, economists and others there to listen to people’s experiences of using the village centre and their ideas.
A Charrette is an intensive planning session where people, businesses, designers and others work together to create a project.
Evidence and ideas gathered will help to inform an action plan for Lennoxtown, which will aim to improve and influence economic development, streetscape design, service delivery, regeneration, and health and social issues in the area.
It can also be used to help secure funding, in association with partner agencies, organisations and groups.
Twechar
Twechar is located 2 miles south west of Kilsyth and is a former mining and quarrying village.
Twechar Community Action was formed in 2001 as a response to the closure of the Local Authority owned recreation centre in Twechar. Twechar Community Action transformed the centre into the Twechar Healthy Living and Enterprise Centre
Twechar Healthy Living and Enterprise Centre is a community hub at the heart of the Twechar community hosting vast range of activities and services. It houses a full time pharmacy, a satellite GP surgery, café, sport hall and meeting rooms.
Twechar Community Action worked with Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT) in 2016 and 2017 to develop its own family-friendly five-year Community Action Plan 2017-2022. The Place Plan for Twechar has been developed as a statement of support for the Community Action Plan and to show where and how community planning partners can support Twechar to achieve its Community Action Plan and address inequality in the area.
View the Twechar Place Plan 2019-24
View the Twechar Community Plan 2017-22
Twechar Healthy Living and Enterprise Centre
Telephone: 01236 827154
Email: info@twecharhlec.org.uk
If you require more information please contact the Community Planning and Partnerships Team.
Telephone: 0300 123 4510